THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP discussion
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With me any book about WWII makes me like a little kid in a candy store. I want them all. Funny thing though. My grandfather and my dad would never talk about their service to anyone but me. Doesn't make me special I could just relate to their emotions recalling what they went through and admired them for it.

How come I'm not surprised :)

With me any book about WWII makes me like a little kid in a..."
My father is a lot like that with Viet Nam. He rarely talked about his experience until his sons went into the army. He still doesn't talk a lot about them, but on occasions he will with us boys.

With me any book about WWII makes me like a ..."
But Happy neither my grandfather or father would talk to their wives or other children let alone their families about any of this. I don't have a problem with it just wonder why me? I would never judge them and I'm very proud of what they did.

In 2009 Prof Lung Yintai from Taiwan published a book which took the Chinese world by storm. It was about the common man's experience when the KMT retreated to Taiwan in 1949. She got down to writing the book because she realised that her mother had never spoken about the event, despite being one of those who went to Taiwan in the exodus, leaving the son behind in China thinking that she would be back shortly. Prof Lung thought she had to record the history because her mother was starting to suffer from dementia, so she started interviewing her mother. After this book was published, many younger people were inspired to start talking to their grandparents about their experience.
The older generation has gone through a lot but they always think that life has gotten better and there is not need to re-live the events. And we lose all that history with their passing.


For my MA thesis, I am looking for a WW2 book written by an American author.
But that is not all, it needs to be a WW2 book that contains a lot of perspectives of various people.
For ex. chapter 1 : a tank soldier, and chapter 2 is then perhaps a corporal's perspective or for example a civilian's perspective on the war.
(A example for what I am looking for : The Things They Carried by Tim O'brien or Redeployment by Phil Klay.)




It is certainly a good candidate, although it consists of interviews rather than that it is written as a novel. I could potentially use it so thank you for the suggestion!

For my MA thesis, I am looking for a WW2 book written by an American author.
But that is not all, it needs to be a WW2 book that contains a lot of perspectives of various people.
For ..."
Sanne: Here are some suggestions:
The first is about the USMC at Tarawa told through the stories of a number of young Americans involved in the fighting --

The naval battle of Leyte Gulf, also told through the eyes on both USN enlisted men and their officers:

An account of the Pacific war's "turning point" at Midway looking at the actions of pilots and crewmen of Torpedo Squadron 8 embarked in USS HORNET and at Midway Island --

The late distinguished professor and critic, Paul Fussell, wrote a memoir of his personal experiences in combat during WW II in Europe --



For my MA thesis, I am looking for a WW2 book written by an American author.
But that is not all, it needs to be a WW2 book that contains a lot of perspectives of various people.
For ..."
Sanne,
In addtion to the fine recommendations from others in this thread, here is on that might be of use

It looks at the Infantry's WW II in the various Theaters.
The author takes an actual Unit - IE 165th Inf and makes a composite soldier and follows that unit and soldier through the war, from the activation of the unit through to the end. He has units in each theater where the army fought

Here is another I enjoyed.

Hey Tom I just checked and already have this one on my to-read list. lol Thanks for the suggestion though.

Here is another I enjoyed.

Hey Tom I just checked and already have this one on my to-read list. lol Thanks for the suggestion though. "
but not on mine so thanks indeed !
I can't help Sanne on the fly... with Hastings, Beevor and Holland I'm stuck on the wrong side of the ocean. Are British WWII historians more multiperspective-minded than their American counterparts ?

message 723:
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Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces
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As an outside chance would this title be of any use perhaps in the sources it used?


I unfortunately wouldn't know. My supervisor told me that it would be a better comparison if I had three American authors rather than 2 American ones and 1 non-American.
So far I haven't really found a book similar to The Things They Carried and Redeployment. I was thinking that The Naked and The Dead might be a good option.

an excellent read! Though does it fit your requirments, not sure.

an excellent read! Though does it fit your requirments, not sure."
I borrowed the book from the library just to see if it would. But yes, so far I haven't found one that fits the requirements of my supervisor. so I might need to find one that is closest to it. :)
Thank you all for thinking along! very helpful

As an outside chance would this title be of any use perhaps in the sources it used?
[bookcover:The Impact of the War Upon A..."
This looks great, thank you!




These two came up when I did a search for Bir Hakeim in the add book feature. Can't say how good or bad they would be.

Thanks, I have the Ballantine on Bir Hakeim.


This looks like a very interesting book ! but unfortunately it's really expensive on Amazon. Still, putting it on my to-read list because it would help illuminate (for me, anyway) the North Africa campaign in WWII


This looks l..."
Pamela: I too noticed the hefty price. That may be an ILL.


Hi Manray9 .. what is an ILL ?


Inter-library loan. My local libraries don't have it.
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Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces
(last edited Nov 29, 2015 01:26PM)
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The Ballantine one is the only one I can suggest for a full range. It is mentioned in books on the 8th Army to varying degrees of top level detail but I don't recall in the ones I have read much depth on the Free French or Desert Air Force's role etc. There is also some mentions in the British official history. I can't recall if you said you were a French speaker/reader Manray9 as there is a book by the commander of the Free French Marie-Pierre Koening "Bir Hakeim: 10 Juin 1942" but I haven't found any translated editions.

Thanks

I would recommend these books on Budapest:

(its been released in PB and Kindle format)

(also recently released in Kindle format)



Good question, check out some of the reviews at Amazon.com to get a better idea.

[bookcover:The Sword Behind the Shield: A Combat History of the German Efforts to Relieve Budapest 1945 - Operat..."
So Amazon has nothing on the book as far as reviews, but the only review on Goodreads, says that it is boring and unreadable.
Of course there are any number of WWII books that could fall in that category and are still full of information. The Big Green Wall. Almost anything by Glantz, so roll the dice you may come up with a better thought on the book than the guy who gave it one star.


Best of luck, let us know what you think after you read it. I have been trying to remember where I have seen a write up on the battle, but so far it hasn't lept out of the memory cage. But I do remember reading a book that had a whole chapter relating to it.
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Mike (Michael) Sledge (other topics)James Sidney Lucas (other topics)
Günter K. Koschorrek (other topics)
Hans Wijers (other topics)
David A. Harrisville (other topics)
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FrankenStan: Many years ago I read --
which was pretty good.